This book was incredible!! I enjoyed the build up and then the final outcome. Just a fantastic book all around. I loved it!

Oh. My. God.

I think I’ve found the best book of 2022 (for me, at least) and I’m sure as hell I’ve meet an amazing author to follow.
We knew all along by Mina Hardy tells the story of a classic ‘perfect from the outside’ family.
Jewelann Jordan in her mid-40s, lives with her husband Kent and son Eli in the same house she grew up in as a child.
Kent has a job that takes him on frequent trips. When he’s at home, he’s distant with his wife and son, picky about cleaning and routines, as well as being a germaphobe.
Eli is the weird kid whose childhood friend disappeared under strange circumstances. Nowadays, Eli has no friends in his class or neighborhood, he just spends a lot of time playing online games or reading on internet forums like Reddit.
Jewelann after having Eli stayed home with him and has not worked anymore because of Kent's demands. But she has a little problem with compulsive buying at garage sales or secondhand sales. She always says she's going to buy something, renew it and sell it for a higher price, but she never does.
Yeah, she has an accumulation problem as well, which she hides from her family with a storage unit.
Story begins when Jewelann attends her reunion with her high school classmates where she decides to take some revenge on her old crush Christian Cameron.
She and Christian had a secret relationship where they smoked together, had sex in their carriage house, but Christian never let them be seen together.
Jewelann dresses to kill, gets him to invite her to his room and when she seduces him, she leaves him alone in his bed and leaves.
Then Christian happens to become his tenant in the carriage house. Kent rented it without telling Jewelann and made a deal with Cameron, he would renovate it and the rent would be very cheap.
When you read the book's summary and start reading the first few chapters you think you know all the secrets Jewelann holds, and yes there are some that you may suspect, but in the end, they will be much bigger than you imagine.
It reminds me of the motto of an MTV show "you think you know, but you have no idea".
There are three things I loved about this story:
Present tense narration. It makes for a more streamlined read, enveloping you as if you were part of the actions. With all authors narrating in the past tense, this was a refreshing change.
Short chapters. The chapters were neither excessively short nor tediously long. Just right on point. I read five chapters each day, the time flew by and I was always left wanting to read more.
Unique POV. Another refreshing change, this story is Jewelann's and she is the only point of view we know. With some small transitions, but almost at the end.
My verdict is that this story is interesting, intriguing, well written and someone must be writing the script for Netflix as we speak.
My rating is 6 compulsive stars, but one was bought by Jewelann.

Mina does it again! Another perfect thriller full of intrigue and mystery. This plot is a slow build but it’s incredibly worth it. I really enjoyed the story.

Jewelanne is going through something! She dresses to the nines for her high school reunion with her eyes set on one person--Christian. The boy who played with her feelings and she never got over how badly her made her feel. She was ready to turn the tables on him.

But--this book was so much more than that. Add in a horrible marriage, a wording problem, and a complex childhood trauma to her teenage son.

I feel this book started slow and then rapidly took off making you think what in the actual heck!

I'm honestly not all that sure what I just read. It was entertaining, sure, but certainly not what I was expecting. It was like a stepped-up Lifetime movie, with a twist I definitely didn't see coming. Definitely made me like the book when the trajectory changed gears. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't put the breadcrumbs together, which made the story all the more interesting, surprising and shocking. It took until the very last pages to even see the plot, but the story itself was interesting enough to keep me engaged. There's nothing worse in a slow burn than being bored to tears 90% of the way through before anything interesting happens. A solid read.

This one wasn't my favorite. The story centers on Jewelanne, who attends her HS reunion with the hopes of running into the guy that broke her heart years ago and show him what he had been missing. She succeeds in this effort (though in a really juvenile way) but then he shows up at her home to rent the small house that sits on their property and tries to befriend both her husband and son and Jewelanne can't seem to break free of him. I felt like the story itself really didn't match the synopsis.

I didn't really like Jewelanne- I thought she was immature and shallow. Her back and forth with Christian, the ex-boyfriend, felt kind of romance novel-y; does she like him or not like him? If she hates him so much, why does she keep interacting with him? The story brought in some twists and turns that you couldn't glean from reading about it in advance, which was odd in itself, and I felt like much of what happened was unrealistic followed by a very abrupt ending.

Overall, kind of an odd read to me- it held my interest but the need to suspend my disbelief and the :"almost romance novel" vibe just didn't do it for me. Thanks to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for approving this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

TW: domestic abuse, child abuse, child murder, drug and alcohol abuse.

This was a gripping thriller that explored gender roles and expectations, and how violent those can be. Jewelann Jordan's suburban life seems perfect - from the outside. In reality, she's spent many years pulling herself apart just to keep it all together and protect her son. Then, she reconnects with her former high-school classmates, including Christian Campbell, her old on-and-off flame, who seems determined to stay in her life. As Jewelann tries to figure out what Christian is hiding from her, the threads of her perfect life finally begin to unravel and expose what lies underneath.

The beginning might feel slow to readers who enjoy more fast-paced stories, but I was okay with it. It was clear something was going on and I enjoyed pulling out the boxes to see what I'd find inside, although I do feel like the revelations came one after another and made the last few chapters of the book intense. There were several twists that I didn't see coming and left me gaping, and wanting to go back for a re-read.

Most of the characters felt real, ugly bits and all. I couldn't help but root for Jewelann. Christian felt a bit like a cartoon villain to me, though.

I would really recommend this to anyone looking for a domestic thriller that incorporates some social commentary, as long as you don't mind the trigger warnings. I enjoyed it a lot!

I've seen a lot of reviews that said it was difficult to connect with the characters, which begs the question: why do characters need to be likable for a reader to connect with them?

Jewelanne Jordan is showing all the signs of a midlife crisis. She's in an unhappy marriage, her teenage son Eli is withdrawn, doesn't have any friends, and is "weird," Jewelanne admits, but she assumes that any boy would be different after experiencing what he did as a young child. A little boy was at their house playing but never made it home, presumed to be kidnapped or having drowned in the nearby river.

Her husband Ken's job takes him on the road frequently, which leaves Jewelanne time to indulge in her favorite activity, shopping and frequenting estate sales. She definitely has a spending problem, but she rationalizes that it's not hurting anyone and it gives her something to do.

Everything changes when she sees her old flame Christian Campbell at their high school reunion. They certainly have history, and she can't wait to make him pay for some unnamed grievances. But Christian turns the tables and insinuates himself in Jewelanne's life, renting their carriage house from her husband, who is growing increasingly hostile and secretive. Christian's presence in her life threatens to bring to life secrets that just can't get out. When that twist came, it was a big one, and all the unrelated pieces quickly fell into place. I thoroughly enjoyed this twisty read. A big thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my early read. WE KNEW ALL ALONG publishes December 6, 2022.

We Knew All Along
A Novel
by Mina Hardy
Thank You, NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books. OMG, I LOVED this book. It was a wild ride. I of course never saw the reveal coming. It was heart-breaking, evil, and brilliant.

It was great! Got me guessing and second guessing my previous guess haha I knew Jewelann would have done something shady, but that twist! Love the fast pace and "fake" leads. It was an intriguing thriller read!

Jewelann Jordan has one thing on her mind when she attends her class reunion and that’s making sure her old crush Christian Campbell sees exactly what he lost all those years ago so a late night a hotel room and a rekindled flame that burns even hotter than it did back then what could go wrong? Everything the night with Christian isn’t the first secret Jewelann has kept from her husband Ken so one more shouldn’t be much harder except Christian shows up without warning seemingly determined to do his best to mess Jewelanns life in any way he can
I really enjoyed this book totally recommend
Thank You NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books
I just reviewed We Knew All Along by Mina Hardy. #WeKnewAllAlong #NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest opinion.

A decent novel about a family with dark secrets. Some twists that I did not see coming, like literally not at all, so much so that they felt a little abrupt? But definitely kept my interest. 3.5 stars.

After a bit of a shaky start I enjoyed this book, just took a little while to get into it. Jewelann has never gotten over Christian, the boy she was in love with in high school who, in her eyes, let her down. She now plans to get her revenge at their school reunion 20 years later. Her plan goes ahead perfectly, but what will be the ramifications of this? Well... certainly not quite what she thought. You have to remember that when you play with fire you may get burnt.

First text messages begin to arrive, then the phone begins to ring - then to beat all of these shocks Christian becomes her new tenant, all thanks to her husband and a very smug looking ex boyfriend. Life has now become very complicated for Jewelann, especially as there also seems a relationship developing with her son and Christian. This can only lead to heartbreak and worry and Jewelann needs to get matters in hand before everything implodes, I will leave it at that!

Enough twists and turns to pass away an enjoyable afternoon, especially when I was unwell and wanting to take my mind off things. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I loved the description of this book from the blurb-- a hot mess of a middle aged woman goes back to her high school reunion to piss off an ex, only to find that the ex is no longer what she remembers. Except, that is not what happens at all. That opening premise seems like little more than a red herring. The real plot reveals itself too slowly until it all boils over in the last thirty pages or so. It was written well enough but there was something very strange or off for me in the plotting and pacing.

This was a hard read for several reasons. The characters, superficially drawn, started and ended as completely unlikable for me; every single one of them. The plot reminded me of a bad soap opera. Without spoiling anything for determined readers, the main character, Jewelann, heads to her HS reunion with a need for revenge on the man who “done her wrong”. Her scheme is silly and sophomoric. It sets a chain of events in motion that topple Jewelann’s life as she knew it. Her poor decision making and horrible judgment as a wife, friend, mother and plain old human being, defy belief at every turn. Without giving away the plot twists, I will say that they were as uninteresting to me as the rest of the book and I was happy to be done. The highlight for me was the opportunity for this advance read. Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books.

I am still reeling from this one!!!! I breezed through it in 2 sittings. I actually wasn’t impressed at the beginning, to be honest. I thought the plot was a little shallow, and I didn’t love any of the characters. Until I did – AND WOW!!!! It quickly became one of those books that was hard to walk away from.

We Knew All Along begins with Jewelann at her high school reunion, she’s dressed to kill and is there alone (despite being married). She is planning on confronting (and winning over) the boy from high school who broke her heart. She succeeds and leaves C.C. naked and wanting more in his hotel room.

When he starts texting her, and seemingly befriends her husband and son, then moves into their guest house, tensions rise. We learn Jewel has a bit of a shopping problem, and despite how they look on the surface, her family is in trouble. (Did you know you can find Louboutins at estate sales? Same with crystal drinking glasses)

Her marriage isn’t happy, and she assumes her husband is cheating on her. She’s not really that upset about it, though. Her son is unhappy, and un-adjusted. That’s credited to his friend disappearing when he was 6. But things aren’t always as they seem 😬😬😬 There are LOTS of secrets to be spilled here. Some are shallow, and some are very, VERY dark.

When I got to the end of We Knew All Along, I made an audible gasp, and read and re-read the twist. IT.WAS.SO.WELL.DONE. And then there was another twist. And it was just as well done! 👏🏻👏🏻 We Knew All Along is a 4.8 for me!!
https://www.heyitsjenna.com/2022/06/01/early-summer-reading-book-review-11/

I'm a sucker for anything to do with a class reunion, and this one is a doozy. The novel starts with the main character Jewelann attending her high school reunion without her husband, with a plan to woo and humiliate the high school crush, Christian, who broke her heart. Mission accomplished. But Christian won't just fade away. He starts with texts and phone calls, and then Jewelann finds him sitting in her house with her husband, where he is introduced as the new tenant in their guest house! He insinuates himself in her life, befriending her family. Jewelann has many secrets she is hiding. Twists and turns galore. Loved it!

I almost quit this book quite a few times before it finally grabbed me. The extremely slow start made the ending feel a bit rushed. I did fly through the end but ultimately I found the book disappointing overall.

I literally couldn’t put this book down from the moment I picked it up. A high school love comes back into her life. Yet is her life as perfect it seems? And the truth is more astonishing than I ever imagined. Literally had me on the edge of my seat until the end. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

We Knew All Along starts with Jewel meeting her old crush, Christian, during their high school reunion. She wants to show him what he's been missing all these years but the prank goes wrong and the consequences of her actions will lead to a journey she wishes she handn't started...

This was quite a rollercoaster! I really enjoyed this novel, it was easy to read and I finished it in one sitting. Mina Hardy's style is fantastic and the narrative is so immervise I found myself talking to the main character more than a few times!

With that being said, it is very difficult to review We Knew All Along without spoiling it as there are more than a few twists and turns. As with all novels of this type, the story starts with a bang and the story progresses into interesting situations that in turn lead to more shocking revelations.

The ending was satisfying and the characters were believeable, a solid page turner for me!

goodreads.com/booksireadandliked
Disclosure: I would like to thank the publisher and author for my advanced review copy of the book. This is my honest review